Daimler Truck North America LLC (formerly Freightliner Corporation) is an

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16 % ...

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

commercial vehicle A commercial vehicle is any type of motor vehicle used for transporting goods or paying passengers. The United States defines a "commercial motor vehicle" as any self-propelled or towed vehicle used on a public highway in interstate commerce to t ...

s headquartered in Portland,

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, and

LLC A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...

of the German multinational Daimler Truck AG. On October 1, 2021, Daimler AG stockholders approved a spinoff of the truck division.

Brands

Alliance Parts An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alli ...

Detroit Diesel Detroit Diesel Corporation (DDC) is an American diesel engine manufacturer headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is a subsidiary of Daimler Truck North America, which is itself a wholly owned subsidiary of the mulitinational D ...

Freightliner Trucks Freightliner Trucks is a US semi truck manufacturer. Founded in 1929 as the truck-manufacturing division of Consolidated Freightways (from which it derives its name), the company was established in 1942 as Freightliner Corporation. Owned by Dai ...

* Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation * Freightliner SelecTrucks *

Thomas Built Buses Thomas Built Buses, Inc. (commonly known as Thomas) is an American bus manufacturer. Best known for its production of yellow school buses, Thomas produces other bus designs for a variety of usages. Currently, its production is concentrated on s ...

Western Star Trucks Western Star Trucks Sales, Inc. is an American truck manufacturer headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and a subsidiary of Daimler Truck North America, which is in turn a wholly owned subsidiary of the Germany-based Daimler Truck. History In 196 ...

* Demand Detroit *

Sterling Trucks Sterling Trucks Corporation (commonly designated Sterling) was an American truck manufacturer. Founded in 1998, Sterling was created following the 1997 acquisition of the heavy-truck product lines of Ford Motor Company by Freightliner. Taking i ...

Fuso Trucks America, while mostly owned by Daimler Truck, currently operates separately from Daimler Trucks North America.

History

Early years

*1896- Gottlieb Daimler creates the first truck. *1923- First diesel truck: Benz *1926- Daimler and Benz merge. *1942- Leland James founds the Freightliner Corporation. *1947- Freightliner opens its first truck plant in Portland, Oregon. *1950- Hyster Company is the first private carrier to order a Freightliner truck. *1951- Freightliner signs agreement to retail trucks through White Motor Corporation dealerships.

1960s and 1970s

*1967- Western Star founded by White Motor Corporation. *1976- Freightliner opens new corporate headquarters in Portland, Oregon and sets up regional sales offices. *1977- Freightliner launches an independent network of dealerships and ends its agreement with White Motor Corporation.

1980s and 1990s

*1981- Daimler-Benz AG purchases Freightliner Corporation from Consolidated Freightways. *1992- Production starts at Freightliner's new truck plant in St. Thomas, Ontario Canada *1995- Freightliner launches Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation and acquires American LaFrance. *1997- Freightliner acquires Ford Motor Company's heavy-truck business and names it "Sterling." Freightliner launches SelecTrucks. *1998- Freightliner acquires Thomas Built Buses. Daimler-Benz and Chrysler merge. *1999- The one-millionth Freightliner truck is built.

2000s

*2000- Freightliner acquires Western Star Trucks.

DaimlerChrysler The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...

buys

Corporation. *2002- Western Star production moves to Portland. *2003- Thomas Built Buses debuts the Saf-T-Liner C2, a revolutionary school bus design. *2004- Freightliner opens its high-tech wind tunnel center in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

. FCCC introduces the hybrid electric walk-in van chassis. *2005- Opening of a high-tech cold chamber in Portland, Oregon. *2007- Daimler and Chrysler split. The new Daimler AG is founded. Freightliner LLC is renamed Daimler Trucks North America. in 2007. Detroit Diesel starts production of the new heavy-duty engine – the DD15. Saltillo, Mexico plant opens. *2008- Parts of the company's operations are moved to Fort Mill, SC. Freightliner LLC becomes Daimler Trucks North America, LLC.

2010s

*2014- Western Star introduces "The 5700" on-highway tractor with product placement in the latest Transformers movie "Age of Extinction" as the heroic lead character, Optimus Prime. Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation launches UltraSteer passive rear steer axles for recreational vehicles to improve maneuverability and extend tire life. *2015- DTNA completes its SuperTruck program after achieving 115% freight efficiency improvement and 12.2 MPG during final testing as part of a U.S. Dept. of Energy research program. Detroit Assurance is introduced in Freightliner Cascadia. Daimler Trucks North America introduces the world's first autonomous commercial vehicle licensed for use on U.S. public roads. The Freightliner Inspiration Truck was unveiled before a global audience at Nevada's Hoover Dam. *2016- Daimler Trucks North America opens its new LEED Platinum headquarters on its campus in Portland, Oregon. Thomas Built Buses celebrates its 100th anniversary. . Thomas Built Buses launches the industry's first compressed natural gas Type C school bus. Detroit launches the DD5™ medium-duty engine. *2017- Western Star celebrates its 50th anniversary. Freightliner celebrates its 75th anniversary. Freightliner Trucks introduces the new Cascadia with Detroit IDP (integrated powertrain management), which helps achieve up to an 8% fuel efficiency improvement over the Cascadia® Evolution. *2018- Thomas Built Buses launches the all-electric "Jouley" Saf-T-Liner C2. Detroit launches the DD8™ medium-duty engine.

2020s

*2020- Starting in January, Daimler Trucks North America took over official support of

Setra Setra is a German bus brand of EvoBus GmbH, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG. The name "Setra" comes from "selbsttragend" (self-supporting). This refers to the integral nature of the construction of the vehicles back in th ...

coaches in North America, along with distribution being taken over by Daimler's new subsidiary, Daimler Coaches North America. *2021- Daimler AG Stockholders approve spinoff of truck division.

DTNA Assembly Plants

* Cleveland, North Carolina (Freightliner) * Mount Holly, North Carolina (Freightliner) * Gaffney, South Carolina (Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation) * Gastonia, North Carolina (Alliance Truck Parts) * High Point, North Carolina (Thomas Built Buses) * Portland, Oregon (Western Star) * Redford, Michigan (Detroit) * Santiago Tianguistenco, Estado de Mexico, Mexico (Freightliner) * Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico (Freightliner)

References

External links

Daimler Truck North America official website
{{Automotive industry in the United States Daimler Truck Companies based in Portland, Oregon Truck manufacturers of the United States Bus manufacturers of the United States American companies established in 2008 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2008 American subsidiaries of foreign companies